Blue Duck Bakery Cafe Opens in Riverhead

The Blue Duck Bakery Cafe had a “soft opening” at its brand new Riverhead location on Sunday. Already established on both forks, with shops in Southampton and Southold, the local gem is well known for its excellent breads, pastries and lunch food.

Owner Keith Kouris said Blue Duck is already represented on both forks, so Riverhead was the natural choice for their next endeavor. “We wanted something in the middle,” he said. Kouris said Riverhead is also a village location, which is important to him and his wife Nancy. “We like village locations because we’re a village baker,” he said, adding, “We [also] see a revitalization of Riverhead and we wanted to be a part of that.”

The new Blue Duck Bakery Cafe is in an old auto parts store on East Main Street, and Kouris said he tried to evoke the Art Deco look and feel of old Riverhead with the tin ceiling, subway tiles in the bathrooms and tile floors inside. “We wanted to work in that theme,” he explained, calling it “Nostalgic Riverhead.”

Bragg, the manager, said Blue Duck is already busy training staff and getting the place in shape for full operations to begin. The bakery’s famous breads, pies and other treats are already available, and soups, sandwiches and salads should be available the week after Thanksgiving.

Both Kouris and Bragg suggested people come to the new shop and pick up some goodies for their Thanksgiving festivities on Thursday. Bragg recommended the pumpkin coconut custard pies, cheesecake and Blue Duck’s fresh baked breads, including the Saveur-rated Finnish-style sour rye (also called “ruisleipa“)and French baguettes.

The new Blue Duck Bakery Cafe in Riverhead is open seven days a week from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and until 5 p.m. on Sundays. They will be open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.